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Bush pushes alternative fuels on Earth Day

Posted on: Saturday, 22 April 2006, 09:25 CDT

By Patricia Wilson

SACRAMENTO, California (Reuters) - President George W. Bush marked Earth Day on Saturday by spotlighting a technology that could reduce U.S. dependence on oil, while Democrats seized on a spike in gas prices to criticize White House energy policy.

With oil prices hitting a record high this week and gas at the pump topping $3 a gallon in some places, Democrats hoping to win control of the U.S. Congress in November elections used the issue to make a populist argument against big oil companies and Republicans' ties to them.

Critics are also seeking to tap into public anxiety caused by rising gas prices as a way to blunt the White House push to take credit for overall good economic numbers.

"This country desperately needs a real strategy on energy, not simply the view held by the administration -- 'let the big oil companies run energy policy,"' New York Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer said on Friday.

Bush, a former Texas oilman, has called for the United States to kick its "addiction" to oil, but there is little he can do to bring the cost of gas down in the short term.

In Sacramento on Saturday, Bush will tour the California Fuel Cell Partnership and promote technology with the potential to revolutionize the way cars are powered, including vehicles run on hydrogen fuel cells that would emit no pollution and be more efficient than gas-powered cars.

Many experts say it is unlikely fuel-cell vehicles will be ready for widespread use for two or three decades.

Bush is also funding research into a new generation of plug-in hybrid vehicles that could be recharged in electrical outlets, allowing many drivers to make their daily commute using no gas.

"By developing these and other new sources of clean renewable energy like ethanol, we will continue growing our economy, reduce energy prices and protect our environment, and make America less dependent on foreign oil," Bush said in his weekly radio address.

DEMOCRAT CALLS FOR HEARINGS

Schumer called for dramatically increased conservation, a crash program to develop new energy sources and a "re-examination of whether having only four giant oil companies can co-exist with the needs of the American consumer and rational policy on energy."

New York Rep. Louise Slaughter, the top Democrat on the House of Representatives' Rules Committee, wants immediate hearings into legislation to reduce gas prices.

"When major oil companies are bringing in the largest profits in American history, working Americans are struggling to afford the morning drive to work," Slaughter said on Friday. "Ordinary Americans shouldn't have to suffer to subsidize record earnings for Exxon-Mobil."

Environmentalists cautiously welcomed Bush's focus on fuel- cell technology, but Roland Hwang, vehicles policy director for the Natural Resources Defense Council, warned against selling a promising long-term solution as "a quick fix" for political cover.

Oil prices shot up to a new peak over $75 a barrel on Friday as investment funds snapped up crude futures and tension mounted over Iran's nuclear intentions.

U.S. gasoline retail prices are surging to a level unseen since last year's hurricanes knocked out a quarter of the country's fuel supply.

"I know the folks here are suffering," Bush said in San Jose on Friday, "I pledge to the people here in California, if we find any price gouging it will be dealt with firmly."

Source: REUTERS

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